1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clamp-type terminal to be clamped to an end of a wire used, for example, in an electric system of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
When clamping a clamp-type terminal to a wire, it is necessary that an end of the wire should be extended outwardly from a conductor clamping portion of the clamp-type terminal so that the sufficient contact of the wire conductor with the conductor clamping portion can be confirmed. However, the conductor end, extending outwardly from the clamping portion, is liable to be curved outwardly to be deflected upwardly.
FIGS. 5 to 7 show a conventional clamp-type terminal 1, disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 55-7235, in which the upward deflection of a conductor end is prevented. FIG. 8 shows a conventional clamp-type terminal 3 in which the upward deflection of a conductor end is prevented, and also the contact of the conductor with the terminal can be confirmed.
As shown in FIG. 5, the clamp-type terminal 1 includes a connection portion 5 for a mating terminal, a conductor clamping portion 11 for clamping a conductor 9 of a wire 7, a sheath clamping portion 15 for clamping a sheath 13 of the wire 7, and a base portion integrally connecting these portions together.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a front end portion 17 of the conductor clamping portion 11, disposed at a front end of the conductor 9, is crushed to be sealed, and with this construction, the front end portion of the conductor 9 is isolated from the ambient atmosphere, and also this front end portion is prevented from being deflected upwardly.
However, when the front end portion 17 of the conductor clamping portion 11 is thus crushed, the front end of the conductor 9 is not extended to an area 19 shown in FIG. 5, and therefore it is impossible to confirm whether the front end of the conductor 9 is held in sufficient contact with the conductor clamping portion 11 as shown in FIG. 6 or is held in insufficient contact with the conductor clamping portion 11 such that a gap 21 is formed between the front end of the conductor 9 and the conductor clamping portion 11 as shown in FIG. 7.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the clamp-type terminal 3 includes a connection portion 23 for a mating terminal, a deflection prevention portion 25 for preventing upward deflection of a conductor of a wire, a conductor clamping portion 27 for clamping the conductor, a sheath clamping portion 29 for clamping a sheath of the wire, notches 31 for enabling the confirmation of a clamped condition of the conductor, and a base portion integrally connecting these portions together.
For clamping the wire to the clamp-type terminal 3, a front end portion of the wire is inserted into the deflection prevention portion 25, and the conductor of the wire is clamped by the conductor clamping portion 27 while the sheath of the wire is clamped by the sheath clamping portion 29.
In the clamp-type terminal 3, the upward deflection of the conductor is prevented by the deflection prevention portion 25, and also the clamped condition of the conductor can be confirmed through the notches 31.
In the clamp-type terminal 3, however, the deflection prevention portion 25 is formed into a narrow tube so as to prevent the upward deflection of the conductor, and it is quite difficult to insert the conductor of the wire into the deflection prevention portion 25 regardless of whether the clamping operation of the clamp-type terminal 3 is effected automatically or manually.
Therefore, the manual operation requires much time, and this increases the cost. In the automatic operation, there is a possibility that the conductor end fails to be inserted into the deflection prevention portion 25, or part of the conductor end is not inserted into the deflection prevention portion 25, but is laid thereon, and in this condition the clamping operation is effected. Thus, frequently, the upward deflection of the conductor can not be prevented, or the clamping operation is effected in such a manner that the clamp-type terminal 3 is inclined relative to the wire.